January7, 2014

Washington, D.C.– Rep. Eliot Engel, the senior Democratic Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement regarding Dennis Rodman’s latest trip to North Korea.

“As North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un continues to starve and oppress his citizens, it is unthinkable that a few fading celebrities would use such an opportunity to reward his brutal regime. This ill-advised trip sends the message that it’s business as usual in North Korea-- and that there are no international consequences for the regime's brutality against its own people. If Dennis Rodman thinks that life in North Korea is ‘not that bad,’ then perhaps he should cast his gaze beyond the basketball court and see the millions of North Koreans starved, imprisoned or tortured by the Kim regime.”